UC Santa Barbara is home to a number of national centers. All centers offer specialized research opportunities and a multidisciplinary environment for study at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels. These campus units were designated National Centers by the sponsoring federal agency or department. See also Organized Research Units, Campus Centers & Projects, MultiCampus Research Units, and the complete alphabetized list of all research units.

• Center For Nanotechnology for Treatment, Understanding and Monitoring of Cancer
   National Cancer Institute
  
  
• Center for Nanotechnology in Society
   National Science Foundation
  
  
• Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies
   Army Research Office (ARO)
  
  
• International Center for Materials Research
   National Science Foundation
  
  
• Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP)
   National Science Foundation
  
  
• Materials Research Laboratory (MRL)
   National Science Foundation
  
  
• Nanotech, a part of National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
   National Science Foundation
  
  
• National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis (NCEAS)
   National Science Foundation
  
  
• Pacific-Southwest Regional Center for Excellence (RCE) for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease Research
   National Institutes of Health
  
  
• Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC)
   National Science Foundation
  
  
• UC Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology
   National Science Foundation